3: The Pig and Apple at Haute Dish

Few things are more quintessentially Midwestern than a pork and apple dinner in autumn. With swirls of orange and gold leaves outside and the smell of wood fire and the rush to soak it all in before winter hits, we sit down to a full-belly meal rich with harvest flavors.

When we sampled this seasonal dish in November, we likened it to the board game Mousetrap. "With its lengthy set-up time, the moments of awe when its tiny pieces all fit together for one elaborate, multi-dimensional table-top playground... the Pig and Apple is like that, except that all the pieces are edible and no one -- we repeat, no one -- will get bored halfway through and decide to busy themselves with something else."

It's exactly the kind of genius playfulness we've come to expect from chef Landon Schoenefeld -- and just what we anticipate from his new venture, Nighthawks/Birdie, opening later this month.